It’s April. Do you know what that means? No, I’m not talking about April Fool’s Day or the start of the professional baseball season or even the showers that will hopefully bring flowers. I’m talking about the beginning of the end. For college seniors, April marks the last full month of school. Come May, colleges around the country will be sending their seniors off with inspiring commencement speeches, hefty final tuition bills, and whatever professional information you possibly could have gotten from that one random philosophy class you took (you know what I’m talking about). Here’s what I have to say to those seniors in the same boat as me.
Hey, graduating seniors… don’t worry if:
1. You are having an internal crisis between “I NEED a job immediately” and “why does the rest of my life/career HAVE to start in right when I graduate?”
2. You still sleep with your childhood blanket/teddy/doll/etc.
3. You go grocery shopping like any adult would, but find yourself buying cookies, apple juice, and Kraft Mac and Cheese because YOU CAN.
4. You call your mom or dad about everything from how to write a check properly to describing a “weird bug bite thingy” you found on the upper part of your arm.
5. You go out the night before a test and justify it with “I’m a senior!!!”
6. You get way too emotional over every little thing you and your friends do (“this is our LAST football game,” “we only have seven Thursday nights left of college,” “this is the last few weeks of my life when a 10 a.m. class seems too early to be awake.”)
7. You look perfectly polished on top during a Skype interview… but little does the interviewer know, you are wearing fuzzy pajama pants on the bottom.
8. You cringe every single time someone reminds you how fast graduation is approaching.
9. You look at the freshmen on campus and just feel jealous that they get another three years of this. And old, you definitely feel old.
10. Your body doesn’t handle partying the same way it used to. HELLOOOOO full 24-hour hangover, you are not welcome here.
11. Turning 22 was extremely anticlimactic compared to last year’s 21-year-old bash.
12. You have fully embraced the SWUG (senior washed up girl) lifestyle by pre-gaming with wine, wearing certain articles of clothing that shouldn’t be seen in public and resorting to flats instead of heels because, “your feet hurt.”
13. The idea of starting your life with a super-cool career in a big city actually really appeals to you… until you realize all of your college friends will be scattered around the country or busy all day. WHO IS GOING TO WATCH SHAMELESS WITH ME EVERY SUNDAY?
14. You still truly care about your classes/grades. Hey, smart is sexy!
15. You cry because it’s over AND smile because it happened.
Hold you heads high, college seniors. The end is near, but the memories are sweet. We are teetering on the border of student and young-adulthood. As Taylor Swift once said, we’re happy, free, confused and lonely in the best way. It’s miserable and magical.
Here’s to hoping for magical.